Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1887-10-15
PLATE-PRINTED PAPERS.

very Olu6I0uC dualr ItOu WIt4t ~ Woo q Low
years ago. The first innovation upon th'
public alton OF the country paper at home
was "the patent outside" is, pape
published one half in Chicago or some
other city and the remainder In the tow
where it claimed to be issued.
These "patent outsides" were furnished
to the owner of the country paper al
cheaply as he could buy the white paper
on which he had been in the habit OF print
ing his newspaper. They saved him hall
the cost of publication and a great deal Of
labor in preparing matter for the. printer
But the 'patent outside" was not a coun
try newspaper. It could not In Its limited
space give either the news or the adver.
tisements its patrons wanted, and they
were getting into disfavor, when new
device was started.
This is "the plate printed matter" One
or more establishments in the country are
making plates of various lengths and
widths to fit the columns of the country
papers, which contain, as rule some
inane reading matter, and the papers are
buying them instead of selecting from
other papers suitable extracts or giving
the letters and views of the people of the
neighborhood.
There may possibly be little saving
made, both in the cost and labor of lssu-
ing a newspaper by using these plates,
but the paper loses in influence and stand
ing more than it gains in money and ease.
The country paper before the advent of
these devices was a power In the section
where it was printed. Properly edited. as
most of them were, it not only gave the
news of the day and week, but also gave
the opinions of prominent men in the
neighborhood, either in communications
or through other methods, with extracts
from the leading papers OF the country.
Now it prints in these plates matter of no
possible interest to its readers.
The country papers should 60 back to
the primitive methods. It may cost more
to "set up" the paper at home, but it will
be better paper-one that its readers
will appreciate more highly and that will
mould public opinion as in former times.
Il Washington National Republican.
The Republican reasons we'll. 1t
may be unjust to Kansas. There
are many good papers in this state.
There are also many poor ones.
Country papers in the eastern states
are, with comparatively few excep-
tions, of the variety which the Re-
publican condemns. The trouble
comes from the inroads of metropol-
itan papers. and the stupor of the
people. In Kansas ''patent outsides"
seem, as rule, to result in doubling
the legitimate sizes of country pa
pers. This increases the expenses Of
publishers, but the people seem to
demand the enforcement Of this plan.
The fact is, the country newspa-
per, in it's proper sphere, is a vehicle
of local news and such editorial
thoughts Of interest to its readers as
are likely to be left untouched by
the metropolitan press. In new
country one of these departments is
as necessary as the other. With
either omitted, the paper is incom-
plete, and pretending to be more
than it is! All this, however, could
be accomplished satisfactorily in a
six-column folio, or a paper one
half the present size Of the WORLD.
In Kansas, the old wheel horses of
journalism have adopted patent sides
or plate matter or both. Sol. Miller,
Geo. w. Martin, Bent Murdoch and
others of the old newspaper guard
have had to trample squarely into
the dust the doctrines which they
for years preached against any inno-
walton on the all-home print plan.
These men issue good newspapers
yet. The trouble is the papers are
unsatisfactory to themselves. Marsh
Murdoch, in his Wichita Eagle Office,
last winter, alluded to his enforced
use of plate matter. He said he did
not know what the plates contained,
because he never read them.
Even large all-home-print papers
might be run in many county seats
in Kansas, were it not for the fanat-
ical factional strife which so gener-
ally exists, resulting in two papers
being run where one could barely
find comfortable support. The
country press should 60 back to the
primitive methods. The people
should treat patent sides and plate
matter as excresences arising in the
desire Of a few city printing houses
to accumulate fortunes. Even the
indirect support given by the people
to these few institutions has an eff
feet disastrous, in a measure, to